Category Archives: Middle East

A Muslim MP in Egypt has submitted the first request to build a new church under a controversial law passed last week by the country’s parliament. The law aimed at liberalising church building and renovation was hotly debated and received Church support only at the last minute amid fears it conceded too much to local

The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development will merge Vatican departments responsible for justice and peace, migration, charity and health Pope Francis has created a new Vatican department, The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Vatican has announced. The dicastery will merge four existing Vatican departments; justice and peace, migration, charity and health. In

South Sudanese troops launched the brutal attack in mid-July in a Juba hotel While most expatriate aid workers left South Sudan after a brutal attack on foreigners in the capital, a group of Catholic missionaries have chosen to stay. “We stayed because we are committed to the ordinary people who are suffering so much,” La

Patriarch Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church has urged Western governments to tighten border controls to curb movement of terrorists The head of the Syrian Orthodox church has said he fears Christianity is in danger of being wiped out in large parts of the Middle East. Patriarch Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church made

The Vatican recently rolled out a new sex education course designed to help parents and educators talk to teens about sex and counter messages on social media. The course, published by the Vatican Council for the Family, and called “The Meeting Point: The Adventure of Love,” aims to promote a dialogue between young people and

Christian persecution happens far away from us. We may complain about the atheists or the satanists and their displays, or a lack of public prayer, but this isn’t the hard persecution many Christians face. For most of us, Christian persecution is a remote possibility. However, for many millions of others, persecution is a daily reality.

Egypt’s state news agency says the attack took place at the Virgin Mary church in Cairo’s western suburb of Nozha Egypt’s state news agency says a knife-wielding attacker has been shot and killed after he stabbed a guard at a Coptic church. MENA says the attack happened early on Wednesday at the Virgin Mary church in Cairo’s western

The leader of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy has said there is “no reason” for polygamy not to be legalised after the Italian government passed a law to recognise the union of same-sex civil unions. In a Facebook status, Hamza Piccardo wrote: “There’s no reason for Italy not to accept polygamous marriages of

Fr. Roni Salim Momika, one of three priests ordained in an Erbil refugee camp Friday, said the event has turned the dreary mood of displaced Christians into one of joy, which he hopes will give them the strength to stay in their homeland. “My feeling is happy, happy!” Fr. Momika told CNA after his Aug.